vandalism

The statue is on the Promenade de Glorias, alongside monuments to other Argentinian sporting heroes including NBA veteran Manu Ginobili, tennis star Guillermo Vilas and Formula One great Juan Manuel Fangio.

An expert on the Great Wall, Dong Yaohui, says many of the scratches were left by tourists in the 1980s to 1990s when people were less aware of the importance of ancient monument protection, and preventative measures were far from effective.

The FTII administration here has sought police "protection" for the campus following an incident in which a symbolic protest installation put up by the agitating students was vandalised outside the main gate.